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Project Proposal: Due October 23rdFinal PaperResearch and WritingENGLISH 479C VICTORIAN SENSATION RESEARCH PAPER PROJECT PROPOSAL DUE OCTOBER 23RD REVISED THESIS AND BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE NOVEMBER 8TH FINAL PAPER DUE DECEMBER 4TH The research paper for English 479 will be an ongoing project that should be worked on throughout the semester. It is an opportunity for you to apply what you have learned from the course to a project of your own devising. While I offer a variety of possible topics, each is very broadly conceived, and you should not feel limited to those particular topics; there is great flexibility in this assignment. You must also find primary and secondary sources of your own to support your thesis argument. I am happy to meet with you personally to help you to understand this assignment, and to develop a strong thesis. PLEASE READ CAREFULLY THE FOLLOWING REQUIREMENTS FOR YOUR PAPER 1. Your paper must have at least five secondary sources. These secondary sources include recently-written books and articles relevant to the topic of your thesis. 2. You may use no more than one internet secondary source. This does not include articles published in refereed journals (i.e. Victorian Studies or Victorian Literature and Culture). Please check with me if you have questions about particular sources. 3. Your paper must have at least two primary sources (novels, poems, reviews, or essays from the nineteenth century). 4. Your paper must include a bibliography of all primary and secondary sources. 5. Papers must be 8-10 pages in length, typed, double-spaced, in Times New Roman or Times font, size 12, with 1-inch margins. Please number your pages and staple them together when you are through. Your paper should have a title of your own devising. 6. MLA style is expected throughout (see links on my website under “Research and Writing”). 7. I ask that the University honor pledge be written and signed at the end of the paper. PROJECT PROPOSAL: DUE OCTOBER 23RD A one-page proposal for the topic you plan to address in your final paper. Attempt to formulate a thesis statement (the argument you will be making in your paper). At the very least, indicate which texts you will be analyzing, what kinds of questions you plan to ask, and how you think you’ll go about answering those questions. If you’re ahead of the game, you might think of this as a practice first-paragraph. This assignment will not be graded, but failure to submit the assign-ment will result in a full-letter reduction from the final paper grade (i.e. “A” becomes “B”).THESIS AND ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY: DUE NOVEMBER 8TH You must submit on this date a draft of your thesis paragraph (no more than one page in length) plus (on a separate page) an annotated bibliography of your secondary sources. By annotated bibliography I mean a list of your secondary sources plus – for each source – a brief explanation (one or two sentences only) of why each source is important for your paper. I will respond to your thesis in such a way as to help you do better on your final paper. Like the project proposal, this assignment will not be graded, but failure to submit the assignment will result in a full-letter reduction from the final paper grade (i.e. “A” becomes “B”). FINAL PAPER Papers are due in class on Tuesday, December 4th. Late papers will not be accepted except when accompanied by a letter from a Dean or the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Before turning in your paper, take another look at the requirements section at the top of this handout. Make sure you have fulfilled those requirements to the best of your ability. RESEARCH AND WRITING You can find various tools to help you with the research and writing of this paper at my website: http://www.english.umd.edu/englfac/JRudy/ResearchandWriting.html. Among them, please look at: 1. The MLA Style Guide, which will show you how I expect your papers to be formatted. 2. Research Port: after logging in with your library number, click on “Database Name,” then type “MLA International” and hit “go”; click on MLA International Bibliography. Enter keywords for your research project and the search engine will show you the titles and sources of recent essays and books that may be related to your topic. 3. A reminder on what constitutes academic honesty. 4. My personal tips for strong writing: “10 Things Not to Do in Formal Writing” and “Further Thoughts on Formal Writing.” I highly suggest you look at these documents before turning in your final paper. 5. How to evaluate a website for academic content. Those of you who have not done significant research in literary studies may want to consult with either Patricia Herron ([email protected]) or Tim Hackman ([email protected]) at McKeldin Library. Either will be happy to meet with you to discuss your project, and to help you locate primary and secondary sources through the library system. I am also happy to meet with you to discuss strategies for research, or to help you with any other part of the project that may require assistance. Z 2 YPAPER TOPICS For this paper, you will choose as a focus one of the five senses: taste, smell, sight, touch, hearing. Your research will be twofold: to conduct a thorough investigation into the Victorians’ understanding of that one particular sense; and to examine one literary work (a novel, a poem, etc.) as a “testcase” for thinking through ideas about that sense. The following books are on reserve at the library to help you develop a more sophisticated understanding of sensory experience as it was conceived in the nineteenth century. There are many more secondary texts that you might find on your own: Janice Carlisle, Common Scents Kate Flint, The Victorians and the Visual Imagination Diana Fuss, The Sense of an Interior Denise Gigante, Taste: a Literary History David Howes, ed. Empire of the Senses Erin Manning, Politics of Touch: Sense, Movement, Sovereignty Kerry McSweeney, The Language of the Senses John Picker, Victorian Soundscapes Susan Stewart, Poetry and the Fate of the Senses Taylor and Shuttleworth, eds., Embodied Selves You may choose any Victorian literary work as your primary “testcase,” but I’ve provided below some possibilities to get you started thinking, and perhaps to offer more direction to those of you who want it. Do not feel constrained by the topics below; they are suggestive only, and they ought


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UMD ENGL 479C - VICTORIAN SENSATION RESEARCH PAPER

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